MANILA, PHILIPPINES — “There’s no room here for tamad. It is a marathon,” said Ron Baetiong, Founder and CEO of Podcast Network Asia, at a panel on the podcasting’s growth potential held at Digimax: IMMAP Digicon 2023 on October 18 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Pasay City. Ron was joined by The Pod Network Entertainment Founder and CEO, Alan Fontanilla, for an enlightening discussion on what the future might hold for podcasting.
The panel, titled “The Rise of Podcasting: The potential growth of an industry, the challenges encountered and trends to watch out for,” traced podcasting’s recent explosion in popularity through the eyes of industry experts, and gave recommendations for capturing an audience in the booming format.
According to Ron, it’s all about consistency. Podcast audiences are more like communities to be nurtured, rather than a pool to cast a wide net over. “You give a community a voice,” he said. “Typically, it’s not mass-market.”
This means that, in order for a podcast to succeed, it needs to regularly put out content relevant to its subject matter — something few local creators understand.
“Podcasting, specifically for the Philippines, is in its infancy stage,” Alan said. Many local podcasters and advertisers still believe that listener numbers are the end-all and be-all of a podcast’s success, but experience has taught Ron and Alan that podcast audiences tend to be more engaged compared to those of other content formats because of its more intimate nature.
“It’s not the size; it’s how you use the audience,” Alan stressed, explaining that popular podcasters aren’t like traditional influencers, and that advertisers shouldn’t treat them as such. Instead, podcasts serve as a means of community congregation and engagement, which opens up exciting opportunities for brands.
By leveraging on this sense of community, advertisers don’t need to search for larger numbers; the level of active engagement a properly nurtured podcast audience offers can promise far better payoffs. A constant stream of relevant, even niche, content builds a strong, committed audience over time.
“It’s all about consistency,” Ron reminded listeners at the panel.
These insights serve as guideposts for brands and creators looking to expand their reach through the format, which enjoys an audience of over 464 million listeners worldwide as of 2023. The Philippines alone has roughly 31 million listeners tuning in and is ranked sixth in terms of audience growth rate, according to Podcast Network Asia.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of DIGIMAX: IMMAP Digicon 2023.
